Pizza oven and a method of using a pizza oven

ABSTRACT

A pizza oven and a method of using a pizza oven. The abstract of the disclosure is submitted herewith as required by 37 C.F.R. § 1.72(b). As stated in 37 C.F.R. § 1.72(b): A brief abstract of the technical disclosure in the specification must commence on a separate sheet, preferably following the claims, under the heading “Abstract of the Disclosure.” The purpose of the abstract is to enable the Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and gist of the technical disclosure. The abstract shall not be used for interpreting the scope of the claims. Therefore, any statements made relating to the abstract are not intended to limit the claims in any manner and should not a be interpreted as limiting the claims in any manner.

CONTINUING APPLICATION DATA

The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.16/388,335, filed Apr. 18, 2019, which claims the benefit of U.S.provisional patent application 62/659,852, filed Apr. 19, 2018.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is related to U.S. application Ser. No.12/336,337, filed Dec. 16, 2008, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,093,533,which is incorporated by reference herein, but is not admitted as priorart against the present application by its mention in this section.

BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field

The present application relates to a pizza oven and a method of using apizza oven.

2. Background Information

Background information is for informational purposes only and does notnecessarily admit that subsequently mentioned information andpublications are prior art.

Pizza ovens are used to heat, cook, or bake foods, primarily pizza, butalso any other foods that a restaurant or eatery wishes to serve, suchas sandwiches. In general, most pizza shops and restaurants utilizeconveyor-style pizza ovens. In these pizza ovens, at least one conveyorbelt slowly moves a food product, such as a pizza, through an oven. Inoperation, the uncooked or unbaked pizza is placed onto the conveyorbelt at one end of the oven. As the pizza travels through the oven, theheated air therein bakes the pizza. The pizza eventually exits the otherend of the oven, where it can be picked up off of the conveyor belt andserved to a consumer.

Such commercial, conveyor-style pizza ovens are usually constructed as asingle unit and are then shipped to the customer. These units areextremely heavy, weighing approximately 1000 pounds, and are large anddifficult to handle. Due to the large size and weight, the customeroften must hire an installation service which specializes in moving andinstalling heavy machinery. Such installation can often be difficult andat times dangerous given the confined spaces in which pizza ovens areoften installed, such as restaurants or pizza shops, and the bulky sizeand weight of the oven unit. As a result, there is a high cost ofshipping to the customer, as well as the cost of installation.

Such pizza ovens are generally assembled by the manufacturer usingriveting, tech screws, and welding, and thus are not easilydisassembled. Thus, when repair of the pizza oven is necessary, eitherthe entire pizza oven unit is sent to a repair center, a repairtechnician comes to the site where the unit is located, or the entireunit is replaced by a new unit. Each of these options has itsdisadvantages because of the costs involved, such as shipping costs,service call costs, or replacement costs, especially in the instancewhere only a minor repair is required. In addition, unless the owner ofthe pizza oven has a backup oven, there is also the cost in lostproduction time while awaiting the repair or replacement.

For breads and pastry-type products, such as pizza, even bakingthroughout the product is very important. Breads that are unevenly bakedmay have portions that are over-baked or burnt, or may have portionsthat are under-baked and doughy. Most consumers prefer that the breadhave a slightly hardened or crusty exterior, but with a soft,fully-baked interior. However, achieving such results throughout theentire product can be difficult, especially if the bread is rather thickor, in the case of pizza, covered by layers of sauce, cheese, andtoppings. In those situations, not only does the pizza crust need to bebaked evenly, but also the cheese and toppings need to be baked evenly.Like the bread, the cheese and toppings can be undercooked such that thecheese is cold and unmelted and the toppings are raw, or can beovercooked such that cheese and toppings are burnt.

Hot air ovens are well known to produce uneven heating of products suchas bread, primarily due to inconsistent or uneven air flow. Commercialpizza ovens can produce very uneven heating due to their relativelylarge size and volume that needs to be heated. As a result, unevenheating can occur such that a single pizza might have sections orportions baked to different levels, such as relatively under-bakedsections to over-baked sections. Since consumers prefer, if not require,that all sections of a pizza or other bread product or pastry be bakedor cooked the same, uneven baking or cooking should be minimized oravoided as much as possible. To achieve such even baking or cooking, theair flow system and heating devices can be monitored and controlled.

A common type of pizza oven is an air impingement oven. In these ovens,an air circulation system is used to guide and control the air movementwithin the oven. The air circulation system generally includes a maincirculation motor and fan blade to generate air flow, air input openingsand return openings, and air guide structures, such as finger componentswith a plurality of openings therein. These types of pizza ovens operateby flowing heated or hot air through input air ducts or hot air ductslocated in a side wall of a baking chamber. In this manner, the hot airis conducted to the interior of the baking chamber where the products,such as pizzas, are located on the conveyor belt. The hot air heats theair and the structures and surfaces inside the baking chamber to in turnbake the food products. Return air ducts or cold air ducts are usuallylocated in the same side wall of the baking chamber as the hot airducts. Air is circulated between the return air ducts and the input airducts through a plenum located behind the side wall. Ideally, the hotair diffuses or spreads throughout the baking chamber to achieve evenheating temperatures in all areas of the baking chamber. Further, thehot air should be circulated as much as possible to conserve heat energyand reduce the need to heat the air. For example, the return air ductsnot only draw in heated or hot air, they also draw in cooler air fromthe outside environment through the open ends of the baking chamber. Itis therefore advantageous to minimize the amount of cooler air drawn inby the return air ducts, as such cooler air will lower the temperatureof the air in the baking chamber and thus require additional and/or morefrequent heating to maintain the desired baking temperature in thebaking chamber.

To promote even baking by improved air flow, air impingement pizza ovenscan utilize what are known as fingers or finger assemblies to directheated air in a bake chamber toward a product to be baked. The fingersare elongated, generally rectangular, hollow, box-like structures whichare enclosed and have a plurality of holes in one of the elongated sidesthrough which heated air exits. The finger assembly is open on one end,which is placed over a corresponding hole in the oven plenum wall and isto be held tightly against the oven plenum wall portion surrounding thehole. Heated air is conducted through the hole in the plenum wall andinto the finger, which air is then forced out of the holes in one of theelongated sides of the finger assembly toward the product being baked.The finger assemblies are often supported using angle rails or by atechnique of sliding the fingers in along a front rail. This design doesnot maintain pressure against the finger assembly allowing the outercover of the finger assembly to slide off the finger housing. When theouter cover is not properly in place on the finger housing the oven doesnot bake correctly. A large gap sometimes as large as 0.75 inches can befound in the rear of the finger assembly causing a loss of air pressurein the fingers and an uneven bake in the oven. Such designs have roomfor the housing to move, which allows leaking and loss of some pressurein the finger housing. The reason for leaving the finger housing looseis to allow for expansion and contraction during the heating process.Unfortunately, such movement of the finger housing may cause unevenairflow and pressure, which causes the oven to lose some of its bakingefficiency.

Another way to promote even baking is to control the oven temperature totry to maintain a constant or relatively constant temperature whenbaking foods. In some conveyor pizza ovens, the main burner thatprovides heat is an on/off style burner. To further explain, this styleof burner maintains the oven temperature by either being fully on atmaximum output or fully off at no output. The problem with the on/offburner is that the temperature of the oven is not maintained close tothe desired temperature. During heating up when the burner is turned on,the temperature of the oven can overheat by about ten or more degrees,possibly as much as between ten to twenty degrees or four to tendegrees, above the desired temperature before the oven stops heating.During cooling down when the burner is turned off, the temperature ofthe oven can cool about ten or more degrees, possibly as much as betweenten to twenty degrees or four to ten degrees, below the desiredtemperature. For example, a pizza oven may be set to a desired bakingtemperature, such as five hundred degrees. When the pizza oven is turnedon, the gas line is open and the burner operates at full power. When thetemperature in the oven reaches the desired baking temperature, the ovencontrol closes the gas line and thereby shuts down the burner. However,by the time the temperature in the oven is detected and the burner shutdown, additional or residual heat is still output by the burner, whichcauses the oven to be heated beyond the desired baking temperature, suchas to about five hundred and ten degrees or more. After shutdown, theoven loses temperature until the temperature in the oven reaches justbelow the desired baking temperature. At that point the control systemopens up the gas line and ignites the flame. This re-lighting processtakes additional time, and in that time the temperature in the oven willdrop below the desired baking temperature, such as to about four hundredand ninety degrees or less. The burner goes through this shut down andrestart cycle all day long in order to try and maintain the set point,that is, the desired baking temperature. The result is an oven with atotal temperature swing in the range of up to twenty degrees or more,which can create uneven and inconsistent baking. Such a design is alsovery noisy due to the roar of the burner cycling on and off repeatedly.The advantage of the on/off style burner is that it is mechanically verysimple, and thus relatively easy to repair and maintain.

In other conveyor pizza ovens, the main burner is a modulating burnerthat controls the gas flow or both the gas and air flows. This system isextremely accurate, but is much more complex than the on/off styleburner. The start up of the modulating burner is similar to the on-offburner, in that the burner operates at full power to heat up the oven asquickly as possible. However, in contrast to the on/off system, themodulating burner slowly closes the main gas valve as the temperature ofthe oven approaches the desired baking temperature. In other words,instead of simply shutting off the valve when the desired temperature isdetected, the modulating burner starts reducing the flow of gas beforethe desired baking temperature is achieved. Once the desired bakingtemperature is achieved, the control system monitors the temperature inthe oven and either increases or decreases the gas flow to increase ordecrease the heat output as needed. The modulating burner ideally willmaintain the oven temperature within approximately one degree of thedesired baking temperature, while burning less gas with less noise dueto the burner not being shut on and off. However, the modulating burnerrequires a fairly complex control system and components, and thus ismuch more expensive and difficult to repair and maintain than thesimpler on/off burner.

For conveyor pizza ovens that utilize natural gas, some sort of flamesense is required to verify proof of flame for safety reasons. Tofurther explain, such pizza ovens feed a combustion gas to an ignitiondevice, which ignites the flow of combustion gas into a flame forheating the air in the oven. The combustion gas is usually natural gas,but can be propane or gas produced from landfills. A flame detectiondevice is used to detect whether or not the flame is ignited. If theflame is out for some reason, the flame sensor shuts off the flow ofgas. Otherwise the gas would continue to flow directly into the oven andthe surrounding work space, which could create a very dangeroussituation in which the gas could build up in the oven and/or work spaceand ultimately explode if ignited. Currently, a flame detectionarrangement is usually used to detect the flame. The flame detectionarrangement includes two metal flame rods that are positioned to be inthe path of the flame. The flame passes over the two flame rods, whichcauses the completion of an electrical circuit, which provides a signalthat the flame is lit and actively burning the gas. However, the abilityof such a flame detection arrangement can be hindered if the flame rodsare damaged in some manner, such that the circuit is not made. Forexample, combustion gas created from landfills can contain siloxanesand/or other contaminants such as aldehyde. When the gas is combusted,the siloxane is converted into silica that deposits on nearby surfacesand structures. In a pizza oven using flame rods, the silica can depositon the flame rods, and eventually can coat the flame rods such that thecircuit cannot be completed reliably or at all. At that point, the flamedetection arrangement will routinely signal that no flame is present andthe gas supply will be shut off, even if the flame is actually lit,thereby interrupting the proper operation of the pizza oven. To addressthis problem, the current solution is to clean and/or replace the coatedflame rods. In areas where landfill gas use is prevalent, cleaningand/or replacement of the flame rods must be done quite often, usuallyevery few months. These interruptions and damage generate increasedcosts in delays and repairs.

It is not uncommon for objects relating to baking or making pizzas, suchas a spatula or other cooking utensil, to accidentally become jammed inthe conveyor belt. The conveyor belt will continue to run against thisjam, thereby risking damage to the conveyor belt and possibly theconveyor motor if the jam is not detected by a worker and the conveyormotor shut down.

Most pizza ovens bake only at one air flow setting and one correspondingconveyor speed. Since the oven is on throughout a normal business day,the same amount of energy is utilized during slower business times whenonly a few products are being cooked or baked in a given amount of timeas is used during faster or peak business times when several or manyproducts are being cooked or baked in a given amount of time.

OBJECT OR OBJECTS

It is an object of the present application to provide a pizza oven thatoperates efficiently with decreased operating costs by utilizing atleast one or more of the embodiments disclosed herein, eitherindividually or in combination.

SUMMARY

In at least one exemplification, a pizza oven, such as a commercialpizza oven, has a conveyor arrangement that includes a conveyor belt.The conveyor belt is driven by a conveyor motor to move pizza and otherfood products thereon through an oven chamber, which generally includesa top wall, a bottom wall, and two side walls. The pizza is baked as itmoves through the oven chamber on the conveyor. The chamber is open onboth ends to permit the insertion of the uncooked pizza into the ovenchamber on one side, and then the removal of the cooked pizza from theoven chamber at the other side.

The conveyor belt is supported on a rectangular frame designed toprotrude out from the oven baking chamber at both the entrance and theexit openings. The rectangular frame is constructed to span the width ofthe baking chamber. The rectangular frame includes metal rods forsupport, structure retention, and belt guidance. A network of shafts,sprockets, and cogs are assembled within and without the rectangularframe to convey the belting and to aid in belt alignment. The shafts,cogs, and rods are covered in a continuous interlinking web ofstainless-steel belting. The belting is of a chain design, allowing fordirect contact with food products and of such dimensions that allowalignment and conveyance. A single conveyor belt can be made of one ortwo independent belts.

A jam detection device or system can be used to detect jams andautomatically turn off the conveyor arrangement. In this manner, jamscan be detected without the need for a worker to find them, so theconveyor belt can be reliably and automatically shut off before damageoccurs.

To promote even baking or cooking of pizza and other food products inthe pizza oven, the speed of the conveyor belt, the air circulationthrough the pizza oven, and/or the operation of a heating arrangementcan be set, adjusted, and controlled in accordance with at least onepossible exemplification disclosed herein. For safety purposes, theheating arrangement can be monitored using a flame detection arrangementin accordance with at least one possible exemplification disclosedherein.

The above-discussed exemplifications of the present invention will bedescribed further hereinbelow. When the word “invention” or“exemplification of the invention” is used in this specification, theword “invention” or “exemplification of the invention” includes“inventions” or “exemplifications of the invention”, that is the pluralof “invention” or “exemplification of the invention”. By stating“invention” or “exemplification of the invention”, the Applicant doesnot in any way admit that the present application does not include morethan one patentably and non-obviously distinct invention, and maintainsthat this application may include more than one patentably andnon-obviously distinct invention. The Applicant hereby asserts that thedisclosure of this application may include more than one invention, and,in the event that there is more than one invention, that theseinventions may be patentable and non-obvious one with respect to theother.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1-3 show at least one possible exemplification of a modular pizzaoven;

FIG. 4 shows an exploded view of a modular pizza oven in accordance withat least one possible exemplification;

FIG. 5 shows at least one possible exemplification of a finger holder asinstalled in an oven, and FIG. 5A shows a close-up view of the fingerholder;

FIG. 6 shows at least one possible exemplification of a finger assembly;

FIG. 7 shows schematically the components of a two-speed controlarrangement for a pizza oven in accordance with at least one possibleexemplification;

FIGS. 8A-8D, 9A-9D, 10A-10D, 11A-11D, 12A-12D, and 13A-13D show variousexemplifications of pizza ovens in which at least one of the features orcomponents described herein may be incorporated in accordance with atleast one possible exemplification;

FIGS. 14-23 show components of a pizza oven burner arrangement inaccordance with at least one possible exemplification;

FIGS. 24-31 show components of a pizza oven air guide arrangement inaccordance with at least one possible exemplification;

FIGS. 32-35 show diagrams of the flow of air through a pizza oven inaccordance with at least one possible exemplification; and

FIG. 36 shows a diagram of components of a pizza oven burner arrangementin accordance with at least one possible exemplification.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLIFICATION OR EXEMPLIFICATIONS

At least one possible exemplification of a modular pizza oven is shownin FIGS. 1-3. A control can assembly 1 houses the operating controls forthe oven and the natural gas control devices and burner. An upper endplug 2 closes off the top half of the bake chamber above the conveyorbelt. A lower end plug 3 closes off the bottom half of the bake chamber,below the conveyor belt. A conveyor belt 4 runs horizontally through thebake chamber and carries the product through the oven. An oven base 5supports and insulates the bottom of the oven. An oven lid 6 mounts tothe top of the oven, finishes off the oven stack and covers the oveninsulation. A half-bake window 7 opens to allow a product to be placedhalfway through the oven for half-bake time. A crumb pan 8 is locatedunder both the entrance and exit of the conveyor belt and catches debristhat falls through the conveyor belt. A back assembly 9 closes off theback of the bake chamber. A plenum assembly 10 houses the hot air blowermotor and fan, as well as thermocouples to monitor hot air temperature.An oven bottom mounts to the top of the oven base, and is used to sealoff the stack and cover the oven insulation. Oven legs 12 are used toraise or lower the oven to convenient working heights. Oven casters 13are used on all oven configurations to allow moving the oven forinstallation and servicing. Restraining devices 14 secure the oven baseto the wall to avoid damage to gas and electrical connections.

FIG. 4 shows an exploded view of a modular pizza oven in accordance withat least one possible exemplification. The control can 1, the other base5, and the oven lid 6 our shown. In addition, insulating panel 15,fasteners 16, finger assemblies 17, and bake chamber 18 are shown. Thefasteners 16 may be any appropriate fastener, such as bolts or screws.The finger assemblies 17 are located inside the bake chamber 18 and areutilized to guide heated air toward a product being moved through andbaked in the baked chamber 18. For shipping, the components of themodular pizza oven may be shipped in separate containers to thecustomer, which containers, in accordance with at least one possibleexemplification, could weigh anywhere in the range of approximately 10to 70 pounds, which would be considerably less than the approximately1000 pound weight of a single pizza oven unit. The customer, uponreceipt of the components, may assemble and install the oven himself,essentially without the need for specialized lifting and installationequipment necessary for installing an approximately 1000 pound singlepizza oven unit. In addition, the customer, upon determining anoperating error or malfunction, or decrease in efficient operation ofthe oven, is able to remove the defective or malfunctioning componentand send it to a repair center. Further, the customer could easily storean additional control can 1, so that in the case of a malfunctioningcontrol can 1, the customer can easily replace the malfunctioning unitwith the stored replacement unit, thereby minimizing any downtime inproduction. The malfunctioning control can 1 may then be sent out forrepair or discarded.

FIG. 6 shows at least one possible exemplification of a finger assembly.The finger assembly comprises a housing 101, an inner panel 102, and anouter cover 103. Upon assembly of these components, the housing 101 andouter cover 103 matingly and sealingly engage with one another toenclose the inner panel 102. However, these components are not fixedlyengaged with one another, and can be easily taken apart. The housing 101and the outer cover 103 may be moved or slid along their lengthdimensions relative to one another.

FIG. 5 shows at least one possible exemplification of a finger holder110 as installed in an oven 112. The finger holder 110 supports aclosed, tapered end of an elongated finger assembly 111, which taperedend is disposed opposite a larger, substantially rectangular open end.The finger holder 110, which is shown in greater detail in FIG. 5A, isattached to the wall of the oven 112 by arms 110 c of the finger holder110. The tapered end is supported by support piece 110 a, which supportpiece 110 a connects and is substantially perpendicular to the two arms110 c. Connected to the support piece 110 a is a flange 110 b. Theflange 110 b is positioned with respect to the support piece 110 a at anangle greater or slightly greater than 90°, such as 91°, 92°, 93°, 94°,95°, 96°, 97°, 98°, 99°, or 100°, as well as tenths of a degree therebetween. In at least one other possible exemplification, the flange 110b is positioned with respect to the support piece 110 a at an anglegreater than 100°. To install the finger assembly 111, the open end ofthe finger assembly 111 is mounted flush against the plenum wall and tosurround the opening in the plenum wall through which the heated air isconducted. The tapered end is then lowered and seated in or rested onthe finger holder 110. The angular design of the flange 110 b results ina pressing force or biasing force being exerted on the finger assembly111. This pressing force minimizes, restricts, or essentially preventsrelative movement between the housing 101 and the outer panel 103,thereby promoting or essentially guaranteeing that the housing 101 andthe outer panel 103 form a closed, sealed space. To further explain, thepressing force causes the outer panel 103 to press flush against theplenum wall so that heated air exiting the hole in the plenum wall doesnot leak or flow through a gap between the outer panel 103 and theplenum wall. As discussed above, such a gap is undesirable as it wouldallow more heated air to flow into the portion of the oven nearest theplenum wall, resulting in uneven cooking and loss of pressure inside thefinger assembly 111. In addition, the finger holder 110 is designed toflex during expansion and contraction of the finger assembly 111 topromote or essentially maintained a positive seal.

FIG. 7 shows schematically the components of a two-speed controlarrangement which permits two-speed baking at a high and a low air flowsetting in accordance with at least one possible exemplification. FIG. 7shows a control 200 which displays the length of time for baking at aparticular speed. There are two conveyor belt speed adjustment controls,namely a speed-increasing control 201 and a speed-decreasing control203. There is also a toggle 202 which toggles between two differentconveyor speeds. The control 200 is operatively connected to a conveyormotor 204, a burner assembly 205, and a blower fan motor 207, which isconnected to a fan 206. The conveyor motor 204 drives the conveyor beltat a selected speed. The burner assembly 205 is used to increase ordecrease the amount of gas and combustion air to change the Britishthermal units (BTUs). The blower fan motor 207 increases or decreasesthe RPMs of the oven fan.

In accordance with at least one possible exemplification, the control200 is preset to operate the pizza oven and the components thereof at a“high” baking setting and a “low” baking setting. According to at leastone possible exemplification, the high baking setting utilizesapproximately 55,000 BTUs and can bake a product, such as a pizza, inapproximately four minutes, while the low baking setting utilizesapproximately 30,000 BTUs and can bake product, such as a pizza, inapproximately seven minutes. The control 200 therefore coordinates theoperation of the conveyor motor 204, burner assembly 205, and the blowerfan motor 207 in accordance with the high baking setting and the lowbaking setting.

Upon installation of the pizza oven, the customer or installer adjuststhe conveyor belt speed in relation to the high baking setting toachieve desired baking of a product at that speed and setting. Thecustomer or installer then adjusts the conveyor belt speed in relationto the low baking setting to achieve desired baking of a product at thatspeed and setting. Once the speeds have been established for theconveyor belt, the customer need only press the toggle switch 202 toswitch between baking settings. Once the toggle switch 202 is pressed,the control 200 sends out signals to adjust the speed of the conveyormotor 204, the BTU output of the burner assembly 205, and the speed ofthe blower fan motor 207 to the levels which correspond to the bakingsetting. For example, if high-speed or high-energy baking is selected,such as during peak business hours, the control 200 sends out signals toincrease the BTU output of the burner assembly 205, as well as the speedof the blower fan motor 207 and conveyor motor 204. Then, if theoperator desires to switch to low-speed or low-energy baking, such asduring off-peak business hours, the toggle switch 202 may be pressed andthe control 200 sends out signals to decrease the BTU output of theburner assembly 205, as well as the speed of the blower fan motor 207and the conveyor motor 204. In addition, should the customer determineafter installation and setting of the conveyor speeds that a higher orlower conveyor speed is desired for either the high baking setting orlow baking setting, the customer may adjust the speed of the conveyorusing the control to set a new conveyor speed. Such adjustability willresult in energy savings, and thus cost savings, for the operator orowner of the pizza oven.

FIGS. 8A-8D, 9A-9D, 10A-10D, 11A-11D, 12A-12D, and 13A-13D show variousexemplifications of pizza ovens in which at least one of theabove-described features or components may be incorporated in accordancewith at least one possible exemplification. Specifically, FIGS. 8A-8Dand 11A-11D show a single pizza oven, FIGS. 9A-9D and 12A-12D show adouble-stacked pizza oven, and FIGS. 10A-10D and 13A-13D show atriple-stacked pizza oven.

At least one possible exemplification of a pizza oven and componentstherefore is disclosed in the “Installation and Operating Manual” forthe EDGE MODELS: EDGE40/EDGE60, Revision 1.1, published Dec. 4, 2008, byMF&B Restaurant Systems, Inc., 133 ICMI Road, Dunbar, Pa. 15431, whichpublication is incorporated by reference as if set forth in its entiretyherein.

FIGS. 14-23 show components of a pizza oven burner arrangement inaccordance with at least one possible exemplification. FIGS. 14 and 15show a portion of a pizza oven burner arrangement in accordance with atleast one possible exemplification. The burner arrangement has a tubularmetal burner housing 312, in which gas is conducted to an ignitionassembly to produce a flame. The burner housing 312 is mounted on orconnected to a fan or blower unit. On the exterior of the burner housing312 is a mounting bracket or mounting structure 316. In theexemplification shown in FIG. 14, the mounting bracket 315 includesventilation openings, which ventilation openings are optional and thuscould be omitted in other exemplifications. The mounting bracket 316 ishollow and generally box-shaped, but with an angled wall or angledsupport surface 314. A flame detection device 310 is mounted in or heldby the mounting bracket 316 in order to permit detection of a flamebeing emitted out of said burner housing 316. In the exemplificationshown, the flame detection device 310 is an optical flame sensordesigned to optically detect a flame, or no flame, being emitted fromgas burner 320, shown in FIG. 16. At startup of the oven, combustiongas, such as natural gas, propane, landfill gas, or similar combustiblegas, is conducted through a tubular metal conduit of the gas burner 320to an ignition assembly at the end of the gas burner 320, as shown inFIG. 16. A flame is produced and maintained at this ignition assembly.An end of the flame detection device 310 is visible in FIG. 16. Anopening 318 (see FIG. 20) is cut or formed in the side wall of theburner housing 312. This opening 318 permits the flame detection device310 to have a view of the flame. The flame detection device 310 includesdetection or sensor optics 322 located at an end of the flame detectiondevice 310. FIG. 17 shows that the detection optics 322 have a directline of sight to a flame to be emitted by gas burner 320. A controlassembly may be configured to control gas flow to gas burner 320 inresponse to the sensed flame or no flame being emitted from gas burner320. FIG. 23 shows a view of only the flame detection device 310 withthe detection or sensor optics portion 322.

FIGS. 18 and 21 show other views of the mounting bracket 316 configuredfor mounting the sensor 310. FIG. 19 shows a close up view of the angledwall 314, which angled wall 314 has a shaped opening therein to permitthe flame detection device 310 to be inserted through the opening andinto the interior of the mounting bracket 316. As mentioned above, FIG.20 shows the opening 318 in the sidewall of the burner housing 320,before the mounting bracket 316 has been attached to the burner housing320.

FIG. 22 shows a diagram of components of a pizza oven burner arrangementin accordance with at least one possible exemplification. It should benoted that this diagram is for illustrative purposes to show the generaldesign of the pizza oven burner arrangement, and thus portions thereofmay possibly not be to scale. As shown in this exemplification, a blowerarrangement 324 is connected to the burner housing 312. Disposed withinthe burner housing 312 is the gas burner 320. The mounting bracket 316is connected to the side wall of the burner housing 312. The flamedetection device 310 is mounted or held by the mounting bracket 316,wherein an end portion of the flame detection device 310 is partiallyinserted into the mounting bracket 316. In FIG. 22 a flame 326 is beingemitted from the gas burner 320. The gas burner 320 and the flame 326together generally define a longitudinal burner axis 328. The flamedetection device 310 generally defines a longitudinal device axis 330.The device axis 330 and the burner axis 328 together define an acute,non-zero, angle 332.

As can be seen in FIG. 22, the flame detection device 310 has a line ofsight along the device axis 330 past the gas burner 320 and to the flame326. This line of sight is achieved by the design of the angled wall 314of the mounting bracket 316. Since the flame detection device 310 isoriented essentially or substantially perpendicular to the surface ofthe angled wall 314, the angled wall 314 can be designed to determinethe angle of the device axis 330 with respect to the burner axis 328.The angled wall 314 can therefore be manufactured and/or modified toachieve a positioning of the flame detection device 310 at a desiredangle.

In at least one possible exemplification, the angled wall 314 may beconfigured such that the flame detection device 310, when inserted, hasa device axis 330 at an angle 332 between about 15° and 35°, in steps of1° or less, or less than 15°, or greater than 35°, with respect to theburner axis 328 of the gas burner 320. In at least one other possibleexemplification, the angled wall 314 may be configured such that theflame detection device 310, when inserted, has a device axis 330 at anangle 332 between about 25° and 30°, in steps of 1° or less, withrespect to the burner axis 328 of the gas burner 320. In yet at leastone other possible exemplification, the angled wall 314 may beconfigured such that the flame detection device 310, when inserted, hasa device axis 330 at an angle 332 of about 25° or exactly 25°, withrespect to the burner axis 330. The angle 332 is selected to provideoptimal line of sight, but also optimal detection of the flame.

The positioning of the hole 318, the mounting bracket 316, and the flamedetection device 310 is selected in order to minimize damage and/or wearto the flame detection device 310. In current gas burner designs, twoflame rods (visible in FIGS. 16 and 17) are used to form an electriccircuit when a flame is active. When the circuit is not connected, thatis, when the flame is out, a signal is sent to a control system toeither shut off or prevent gas flow to the gas burner. Since the flamerods are actually positioned in the flame itself, the flame rodsexperience wear and become dirty due to soot other combustion products.One combustion by-product discussed herein is silica, which can bedeposited on the flame rods. Silica coatings inhibit or preventconductivity of the flame rods, thereby causing an incorrect detectionof no flame when a flame is actually present. Again, since the flamerods are directly in the flame, silica coatings can form relativelyquickly, necessitating difficult cleaning and/or replacement of theflame rods on a regular or frequent basis. To avoid and/or minimize wearto the flame detection device 310, as well as to avoid and/or minimizethe optics 322 becoming dirtied or coated with soot, silica, or othercombustion products, the flame detection device 310, as best seen inFIG. 22, is positioned a substantial distance away from the end of thegas burner 320 and the flame 326, that is, near or adjacent the midwaypoint of the burner housing 312 along the burner axis 328. Since theflame, heat, and combustion products are all generated at the end of thegas burner 320 and are directed away from the gas burner 320 out of theend of the burner housing 312, very little contaminant materials willreach the flame detection device 310. The flame detection device 310 isnot only positioned a substantial distance away from the end of the gasburner 320, but it is also positioned a substantial distance from thebody of the gas burner 320, such that no portion or a very small portionor a small portion of the end of the flame detection device 310 projectsthrough the hole 318 and into the burner housing 312. In theexemplification shown in FIG. 22, the flame detection device 310 ispositioned such that no portion, or possibly only a very small portion,of the flame detection device 310 projects into the interior of theburner housing 312. Again, this positioning is selected to keep theflame detection device 310 as far away from the combustion occurring atthe end of the gas burner 320 as is reasonably possible. Since the flamedetection device 310 utilizes an optical detection, the detection of theflame can be done at such a distance but without sacrificing accuracy.In addition, the need to maintain or even utilize the flame rods is nolonger required, which results in less down time and lost productivitydue to cleaning and maintenance.

FIGS. 24-31 show components of a pizza oven air guide arrangement inaccordance with at least one possible exemplification. The pizza ovenshown in FIGS. 24-31 utilizes heated air, the movement of which iscontrolled by an air circulation system. The air circulation systemgenerally includes a main circulation motor and fan blade to generateair flow, air input openings and return openings, and air guidestructures, such as finger components with a plurality of openingstherein. In the exemplification shown, the air circulation system alsoincludes components of a return air management (R.A.M.) system, whichwill be discussed further herein below.

The main circulation motor and fan blade (not shown) can be selected forappropriate air movement based on the oven model and characteristics.Larger ovens, such as those over 60″ in length (parallel to the path oftravel of the conveyor) and/or over 32″ in width (perpendicular to thepath of travel of the conveyor), can use a variable frequency drive anda three-phase motor to achieve the RPM needed to rotate a larger fan.Oven models with a length of 60″ or less and/or a width of 32″ or lesscan utilize a one-phase motor and smaller fan blades. The selection ofthe appropriate motor, motor drive, and fan blade are all importantfactors in developing a desired amount of air flow in the ovensufficient or appropriate for maximum efficiency and optimal baking orcooking of products.

For delivery of heated or hot air into the baking chamber, fingercomponents or assemblies, such as those shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, can beused. The finger components may comprise a finger housing, a finger airdiffuser, a finger air collimating panel, and a finger cover. The fingerhousing has a ramped design, much like a manifold, to stabilize thepressure through the finger as air escapes across the finger assembly.The finger air diffuser utilized by the oven stabilizes the air flow asit populates the finger assembly. This technique reduces the pressuredifferences front to back and side to side with the finger assembly,resulting in even distribution of impingement air. The collimating panelis customer selectable, so that the oven can be built exactly to theneeds of the product, bake time, and bake temperature. The finalcomponent of the finger assembly, the finger cover, comprisesperforations or impingement holes. These impingement holes vary by themodel they are created for. Impingement hole size affects the volume ofair flow and the pressure of that air flow.

In addition to these components, the air circulation system shown inFIGS. 24-31 includes components of a return air management system thataids in the distribution of return air throughout the oven. Not allmodels of pizza ovens require these components to be installed, but allmodels are capable of accepting this technology. To explain how thereturn air management system works, it should be noted that the ovenbaking chamber can be represented in basically four quadrants: top-left,top-right, bottom-left, and bottom-right, as viewed from the side in adirection transverse to the conveyor length (such as in FIG. 31). Thereturn air management system is basically comprised of four covers orpanels or plates or duct structures, one in each of the quadrants. Thesecovers form, in conjunction with the top and bottom wall surfaces of thebaking chamber, return air ducts for guiding air back into the returnair openings in the side wall of the baking chamber. Each of the fourcovers includes a plurality of openings in the surface thereof that arearranged to create a desired flow of return air that is even oressentially even throughout the oven. The cover structure ismanufactured in a manner that allows for direct fitting to the returnair plenum of the oven. The return air management system helps the ovenretain much of the heated air within the baking chamber by minimizingthe intake of cooler air from outside the oven, and maximizing thecirculation of heated air. The even distribution of return air withinthe return air management system also allows for a reduction in the maincirculation motor and fan blade count from that which is usuallyemployed in current oven designs. This reduction in electro-mechanicalparts reduces the potential points of failure, thereby reducingpotential maintenance and repair costs.

FIG. 24 shows a top or front view of an air guide structure 401, andFIG. 25 shows a bottom or back view. The air guide structure 401 isessentially shaped like a cover plate, wherein it has a flat coverportion 411 and three side portions or flanges 412 positionedtransverse, or essentially or substantially perpendicular, to the flatcover portion. The flat cover portion 411 includes a plurality of holestherein, the positioning of which is selected to achieve a particularair flow, as discussed herein below in further detail.

FIG. 29 shows the interior of a pizza oven 400 as seen through anopening in the end of the baking chamber. The view shown in FIG. 29 isfacing the side wall 408 of the baking chamber, behind which the plenumis located. Input openings 402 permit hot or heated air to be conductedinto the baking chamber. Return openings 406 permit air, which can be amix of hot or heated air and cooler air from outside the pizza oven 400,to enter the plenum and be heated. A bottom wall 405 is also visible.Installed finger assemblies 403, 404 (also shown in FIGS. 5 and 6) andan air guide structure 401 are shown in the background. A similar viewis shown in FIG. 30.

FIG. 26 shows a similar view as in FIGS. 29 and 30, but with an airguide structure 401 installed in the pizza oven 400. The air guidestructure 401 rests on the bottom wall 405 with the top of the coverportion 411 facing up, supported by the three side walls 412. The coverportion 411, the three side walls 412, and the bottom wall 405 togetherform a return air chamber. Since there are only three side walls 412 onthe air guide structure 401, the return air chamber has an open end.This open end is connected to a corresponding return opening 406, whichis not visible in FIG. 26 since the air guide structure 401 covers thereturn opening 406, as better seen in the close up view in FIG. 27. FIG.28 shows a close up view of the end of the installed air guide structure401 disposed opposite the end connected to the return opening 406. Itshould be noted that the air guide structure 401 is designed to notextend all the way to the opposite side wall of the baking chamber, asshown in FIG. 28, in order to achieve a particular air flow, asdiscussed herein below in further detail.

FIG. 31 shows a diagram of the components of one possibleexemplification of an air guide arrangement. In at least one possibleexemplification of a pizza oven, upper and lower sets of four fingerassemblies 403 are installed to guide hot or heated air into the bakingchamber through the pluralities of openings therein, as represented bythe smaller arrows 407. Air is guided into the upper and lower sets oftwo air guide structures 401 through the pluralities of openingstherein, as represented by the larger arrows 409. It should be notedthat each of the finger assemblies 403 and the air guide structures 401have pluralities of openings therein, but which have been omitted insome of the figures, such as FIGS. 26 and 31, for purposes of simplicityin showing the positioning of these structures in a pizza oven and inrelation to one another.

FIGS. 32-35 show diagrams of the flow of air through a pizza oven inaccordance with at least one possible exemplification. FIGS. 32-35 arediagrams provided for exemplary purposes to illustrate air flow conceptsin a pizza oven that incorporates both air finger assemblies 403 and airguide structures 401. FIG. 32 is a view into a pizza oven 400 lookingthrough an open end (entry or exit) of the baking chamber. The sides ofthe finger assemblies 403 can be seen, which finger assemblies 403 arepositioned above and below a conveyor 412. A pizza or other food productmay be inserted into the oven 400 via the open end shown, or may beremoved from the oven 400 via the open end, depending on how the oven isset up. An air guide structure 401 is not installed in FIG. 32. Inoperation, heated air flows through the plenum 411 and into the bakingchamber via input openings 402. The heated air travels into the fingerassemblies 403 and then exits via the openings therein, which arepositioned to face toward the conveyor 412. The air is then circulatedaround the finger assemblies 403 and back into the plenum 411 via thereturn openings 406. In addition, some amount of room temperature airfrom outside the oven is drawn in via the return openings 406. In someovens, this particular design works adequately and can evenly bake orcook food products, but does not work well or at all in other ovens.

To further explain, pizza ovens are designed in a range of widths,usually based primarily on the pizzas to be baked in a restaurant, mostlikely a pizzeria. For example, a common pizza oven might have a 32-inchwidth, that is, a 32-inch wide conveyor. The width of the conveyor ismeasured perpendicular to its direction of movement. For instances whenthe most common pizza size made by the pizzeria is 16 inches, a 32-inchconveyor is suitable as it can support two 16-inch pizzas placedside-by-side. In this manner, the maximum surface area of the conveyorcan be used, with very little wasted space. Such maximized usage allowsfor maximized output of pizzas in a work day. This conveyor width can beselected by a pizzeria depending on the type of pizza to be cooked. Forexample, if a pizzeria usually cooks larger pizzas, such as 18-inchdiameter pizzas, the pizzeria may use a larger oven with a widerconveyor, such as 38 inches.

However, some pizzerias might produce a very large number of pizzas andrequire an even wider conveyor to increase productivity. For example, abusy pizzeria may wish to place three pizzas, rather than two pizzas,side-by-side on the conveyor. If such a pizzeria most commonly sells14-inch pizzas, this would not be possible on a 32-inch or 38-inchconveyor because the conveyor would need to be at least 42-inches wide(three pizzas times 14 inches=42 inches) to permit such positioning ofthe pizzas. Otherwise, the pizzas would need to be offset or staggeredon the conveyor, which leads to less productivity and a substantialamount of unused conveyor surface. Being able to cook three pizzassimultaneously in the same amount of space (as measured along the lengthof the conveyor) as two pizzas is advantageous. Further, not having tostagger the pizzas and waste surface area is also advantageous.Approximately 40% to 50% more pizzas can be baked per hour in such awider oven. For example, in a 32-inch oven, approximately 90 14-inchpizzas, baked for six 730 minutes, can be baked in one hour, whereas ina 44-inch oven, approximately 130 14-inch pizzas can be baked in onehour, which is about a 44% increase in output.

Unfortunately, pizza ovens cannot be scaled up in width indefinitelywithout a disruption in the air flow. For example, when the width isincreased from 32 or 38 inches to 44 inches, the air flow suddenlysuffers problems. To effectively push air out to the ends of the fingerassemblies, the blower arrangement requires two or more regular blowersor a very powerful single blower, due to the increased width. In thissituation, the draw or vacuum force of the return air is also verystrong. Unfortunately, the vacuum force is unevenly distributed, with avery powerful or powerful or higher vacuum force right at the air returnduct, but a much less powerful or less powerful or lower vacuum forcenear the middle and end of the finger assembly. This disproportionate oruneven vacuum force creates a few different problems. First, the highervacuum force draws a substantial amount of room temperature air into theoven from outside the oven, as shown in FIG. 32. This outside air, whichcan be anywhere from around 65° F. to around 75° F., is drasticallycooler than the air in the oven, which can be, for example, 250° F. to500° F., depending on cooking needs. This cooler air needs to be heated,so drawing large amounts of cooler air into the oven is extremelyinefficient as much more energy is needed to heat the air. Second, thislarge amount of cooling air cools the section of the conveyor closest tothe air return opening 406. Third, the higher suction also quickly drawsthe hot air expelled from the finger assemblies 403 back into the plenum411, rather than permitting the hot air to reside longer in the oven tobake or cook the food product. The combined effect of increased cool aircoming in and hot air being drawn out too quickly results in a coolerzone on the conveyor adjacent the plenum 411. As a result, the foodproduct in that area is not heated properly. For example, a 44-inch wideconveyor, as mentioned above, can accept three 14-inch pizzas placedside-by-side across the width of the conveyor. However, these pizzas endup being baked quite differently. The middle pizza and the pizzafurthest away from the air return openings 406 are baked quite evenly tothe desired quality. The pizza nearest the air return openings 406 isnot cooked well at all, and is rather undercooked due to the coolertemperature in that region. Therefore, about one-third of the conveyoris located in a cooler zone, which can have a temperature that isanywhere from 20% to 30% cooler than other areas of the oven, and thusis unsuitable for cooking or baking the pizza as desired. This imbalancein flow of air is represented in FIG. 32 by the larger number of arrowsnear the air return opening 406, as opposed to the consistent andsimilar air flow represented by the arrows near the middle and end ofthe finger assembly 403. It should be noted that these arrows are forillustrative purposes and are not intended to exactly depict the airflow in the oven.

To overcome this problem, the return air guides 401 can be used. Asshown in FIG. 33, when the air guide structure 401 is installed, the airflow is evened out, as represented by the arrows. The powerful draw atthe return opening 406 is counteracted by the air guide structure 401.

To further understand how the air guide structure 401 controls air flow,FIG. 34 shows a top view of an installed air guide structure 401, asviewed looking down through the pizza oven and the finger assemblies,which are not shown for simplicity. As can be seen in FIG. 34, the airguide structure 401 is placed flush against or inserted partially intothe return opening 406 in the wall of the plenum 411. In theexemplification shown, the air guide structure 401 extends short of theopposite wall 414 of the baking chamber, thereby leaving a gap 413,which can be 3% to 15%, or possibly 5% to 10%, of the total width of thebaking chamber. This gap 413 allows for easier installation and/orremoval of the air guide structure 401 to permit cleaning. In addition,by not having the air guide structure 401 extend all the way to the wall414, the hot air can reside in that region for a somewhat longer timesince the hot air exiting the finger assemblies 403 in that region isslightly cooler due to its longer path of travel.

The placement of the holes in the air guide structure 401 is selected toachieve different effects. First, the vacuum force or suction or draw isthe strongest right at the return opening 406, and weaker at the middleportion and end portion (adjacent the wall 414) of the return air guide.As discussed previously, without the air guide structure 401, a largervolume of air is drawn in adjacent the return opening over a givenperiod of time than in areas further away. A reduced or small or lowernumber of holes is placed in the end region of the air guide structureadjacent the return opening 406 to restrict air flow through these highsuction holes. Conversely, an increased or large or greater number ofholes is placed in the middle and end regions of the air guide structure401 to increase air flow. As a result, the total volume of air flow inall regions is equalized or made more equal or similar, specifically byrestricting air flow in high suction regions, and increasing air flow inlow suction regions. This results in more even temperature distributionand, most importantly, even baking of all pizzas or food products acrossthe entire width of the conveyor. In at least one exemplification, theholes are each one inch in diameter. However, it should be understoodthat the diameter can be varied as desired to achieve different air flowcharacteristics.

In addition, as can be seen in FIG. 34, the number of holes or thepattern tapers somewhat from about the middle of the air guide structure401 to the end region at the return opening 406, such that thehigh-suction holes near or at the return opening 406 are positionedessentially in the middle of the air guide structure 401. If thehigh-suction holes were instead located near the edges of the air guidestructure 401, that is, at an edge 415 of the oven, they would suck in asubstantial amount of cooler, outside air. As discussed above, this isundesirable. Further, since each air guide structure 401 is madeidentically for simplicity of manufacture and installation, either longside of the air guide structure 401 could possibly be placed near theedge 415 when installed. Consequently, no high-suction holes are placedat either long edge of the air guide structure 401. The high-suctionholes near the return opening 406 are located further within the bakingchamber, and therefore primarily suck in heated air to promotecirculation of heated air and minimize intake of cooler air. It shouldbe understood that the pattern of holes is not limited to theexemplifications shown in the drawings, and that virtually any patternmay be selected, provided that the general desired air flowcharacteristics and even baking are achieved.

Another effect of the design of the air guide structure 401 is shown inFIG. 35. It should first be noted that this is an illustrative diagramof air flow for purposes of explanation, and should not be considered anexact representation of actual air flow in the oven. In operation, hotair flows out of the holes in the air finger assembly 403. At least aportion of this air travels around the sides of the finger assembly 403and toward the air guide structure 401. Without the air guide structure401, such air, due to the pressure in the oven and the force of theblower, is pushed out of the oven and into the surrounding room, whicheffect is generally referred to in the pizza-making industry as“blowout.” Not only is this an inefficient loss of heat from inside theoven, but usually it causes an undesirable heating of the room in whichthe workers, and possibly some customers, are located, which can beespecially uncomfortable in warmer climates. Pizzerias often thereforehave to expend substantial energy costs in cooling the room to combatthe heating effect of the oven. The air guide structure 401 has holesalong the outer edge 417 of the air guide structure 401 to help draw theair at the edge 415 of the oven down into the air guide structure 401.As a result, less hot air escapes the oven, and more hot air iscirculated back into the oven. This reduces energy costs to heat theoven since heat is conserved, and simultaneously reduces energy costs tocool the room in which the oven is located. One other substantialadvantage is that the guided air forms a sort of air blade or aircurtain or air wall that blocks the entry of cooler air into the oven,which cooler air, as discussed above, reduces the temperature in theoven and wastes energy in heating the air. The cooler air is thereforedriven back into the room, further preventing the waste of energy, coolair, and heated air. For example, for a pizzeria operating in a warmclimate like Florida, the heat produced by the oven in conjunction withthe heat of the climate can be unbearable, and therefore necessitatessubstantial utility costs for air conditioning to cool the room. Bykeeping the heated air in the oven, utility costs relating to such airconditioning can be reduced by approximately 40%, which is a substantialcost savings.

The air guide structure 401 therefore achieves several advantageous and,in some ways, unexpected or surprising results that dramatically orsubstantially increase efficiency and reduce costs. Instead of onlycounteracting the cooler zone that occurs in larger ovens having a widthof 44 inches or larger, the air guide structure 401: permits the use ofonly a single blower with a standard or less powerful motor (therebyreducing operating noise, energy costs, manufacturing costs, andmaintenance costs); assists the finger assemblies 403 in evenlydistributing hot air throughout the oven; increases residence time ofthe hot air in the oven; creates an air curtain and the open ends of theoven; helps draw hot air back into the plenum to minimize the exit ofhot air out of the oven (thereby reducing energy costs substantially byconserving or recycling or circulating heated air and minimizing on/offcycles of the heater); helps promote an even draw of the return air(reducing oven “blow out” and thereby increasing oven efficiency and theevenness of the baking process); and enables substantially larger ovenwidths of 44 inches or more that substantially increase productivity(more food products can be cooked at the same time).

FIG. 36 shows a diagram of components of a pizza oven burner arrangementin accordance with at least one possible exemplification. Beforediscussing the exemplification shown, a general discussion of howon/off-style and modulating-style pizza ovens operate is necessary.

In an on/off style pizza oven, the oven can be set, usually via anelectronic or computer control system, to bake at a desired bakingtemperature, such as, for example, 500° F. A main burner heats the airflowing through the pizza oven until the control system detects that theair temperature, such as the air temperature inside the baking chamberof the pizza oven, reaches 500° F. At that point, the high flame valveis closed and the main burner is extinguished. While the main burner isno longer lit and actively heating the air, residual heat in the bakingchamber and in the oven structures continue to heat the air, therebycausing the temperature in the baking chamber to continue heating to atemperature over the desired temperature, such as to about 504° F. Theoven starts to cool off until the temperature drops below 500° F. Thecontrol system detects the temperature drop and starts the ignitionprocess to re-ignite the main burner. Unfortunately, this process takessome time, which allows the temperature to continue to drop ratherquickly, if not precipitously. The temperature can drop well below thedesired temperature, such as to about 493° F. to 490° F. or lower. Thesesubstantial swings in temperature can cause uneven baking, inefficientuse of fuel, and a very high number of on/off cycles throughout anoperating day.

To solve this problem, especially the substantial temperature drop,modulating burners were developed, wherein instead of an on/off designfor the high flame valve, the high flame valve could be adjusted toregularly decrease or increase gas flow in response to increases anddecreases in temperature, rather than being fully on or fully off as inthe on/off system. In such a modulating system, the oven temperaturecould be kept very close to the desired temperature, such as +/−1° F.,that is, between 499° F. and 501° F. for a 500° F. temperature. Whilevery accurate and efficient, modulating systems are very complex andthus difficult and/or expensive to maintain.

The exemplification shown in FIG. 36 combines the mechanical simplicityof an on/off burner system with the temperature control of a modulatingburner system. When the pizza oven is first started up for use from acold state, a main gas valve 501 is opened to allow combustion gas froma gas supply 500 to flow into the gas line arrangement. Gas flowsunregulated to a high flame valve 503, which is in a closed state. Gasadditionally flows unregulated to a pilot orifice 504 that adjusts orregulates the flow of gas to a minimal amount sufficient to fuel a pilotflame at the pilot burner 507. Once the pilot flame is lit, the highflame valve 503 is opened to permit gas to flow to a main orifice 506which adjusts or regulates the gas flow to a desired or predeterminedamount to fuel a main burner 508. The amount of gas flow through themain orifice 506 is substantially higher than the amount of gas flowthrough the pilot orifice 504. The gas flowing at the main burner 508 isignited to provide a high flame to heat the air flowing through thepizza oven. The high flame valve 503 remains open to supply gas to themain burner 508 until a desired baking temperature or temperature setpoint is achieved in the pizza oven. When the desired baking temperatureis achieved, the high flame valve 503 is closed.

At this point, much like with the traditional on/off-style burners, thetemperature would start to drop. However, unlike an on/off-style burner,a bypass arrangement is also included in the overall burner system.Going back to the startup, when the main gas valve 501 is opened, gas isalso flowed unregulated to a bypass valve 502, which is also closed.Once the pilot flame is lit, the bypass valve 502 may be opened to allowgas to flow to a bypass orifice 505. The bypass orifice 505 is designedto allow a substantially lesser amount of gas to flow therethrough thanthe main orifice 506 is designed to allow through.

During heating of the oven to the desired temperature, both the highflame valve 503 and the bypass valve 502 are opened and the gas flows tothe main orifice 506. When the desired temperature is reached, the highflame valve 503 is closed, but the bypass valve 502 remains open. Areduced amount of gas flows out of the bypass orifice 505 and to themain burner 508. Instead of a high flame burning at the main burner 508due to a full supply of gas flowing through the high flame valve, alower flame burns at the main burner 508 due to the reduced amount ofgas flowing from the bypass orifice 505. As a result, the oventemperature drops at a much slower rate as the lower flame providessupplemental heat that is insufficient to maintain the desiredtemperature, but can function as a buffer of sorts to prevent a fast orprecipitous drop in oven temperature. In this manner, the oventemperature falls much more slowly, thereby maintaining the oventemperature at approximately the desired level for a longer period oftime than was possible in an on/off burner system. By delaying thetemperature drop, the on/off cycles can be substantially reduced, suchas by half. Therefore, if there are 100 on/off cycles in a day, thosecan be reduced by 50 or more. Accordingly, less fuel will need to becombusted to maintain heat in the oven, thereby increasing operatingefficiency. The temperature on heating up therefore exceeds the desiredtemperature by 3-4° F. at most, and on cooling down drops below thedesired temperature by only about 1° F. Again, heat is not lost asquickly due to the lower, supplemental heat provided via the bypassorifice 505, so when the high flame valve 503 is opened to generate moreheat and raise the oven temperature, the oven temperature can quickly berestored to the desired temperature.

It should be noted that the bypass valve 502 is always open if thedesired baking temperature is above the minimum oven temperature thatcan be achieved by the gas allowed through the bypass orifice 505 alone.To further explain, the bypass orifice 505 allows a reduced flow of gasthat will produce a low or lower flame at the main burner 508. Such alow or lower flame can generate enough heat to maintain the oven at atemperature of, for example 300° F. or 350° F., depending on the designof the bypass arrangement and the oven. If the desired bakingtemperature is 500° F., then the bypass valve 502 will always be openduring operation of the oven. However, sometimes an oven user will wantto cook or bake multiple different types of products. While a bakingtemperature of 450° F. or 500° F. may be suitable for pizza, it is notsuitable for tasks that require lower temperatures, such as meltingcheese on a warm sandwich or similar product, baking cookies orpastries, or simply warming dining plates in order to keep the foodthereon warm while eaten by a customer. These and other tasks are commonto restaurants and pizza shops. If there is no bypass valve 502 in thegas line, such as in the gas line to the pilot burner 507, or if thebypass valve 502 is always open when the oven is in operation, the ovencannot be run at such lower temperatures. Therefore, in at least onepossible exemplification, if the desired oven temperature is set at atemperature, such as 150° F., that is below the minimum temperature orset point for operation of the bypass arrangement, such as 350° F., thebypass valve 502 stays closed and only the high flame valve 503 is open.In this scenario, the oven will operate much like a traditional on/offstyle oven. While not the most accurate and/or efficient way to operatean oven, as discussed above, the user will now be able to use the ovenfor a plurality of different heating tasks.

In summary, the bypass arrangement coupled with the on/off-style mainheating arrangement provides the precise temperature control provided bymodulating burners, but without the need for complex control systems andcomponents. Such a system is easier and more cost-effective to maintainthan a modulating burner, but more efficient than traditionalon/off-style burners.

In at least one possible exemplification, the operation of the pizzaoven conveyor arrangement can be monitored in order to minimize orprevent damage to the conveyor arrangement due to foreign objectsbecoming jammed in the conveyor belt. A monitoring arrangementcontrolled by an electronic control system can monitor differentparameters of the conveyor arrangement, such as the revolutions perminute (RPM) of the conveyor motor. If the RPM's are detected at anundesirable level indicative of a conveyor belt jam, the conveyor motorcan be automatically shut down to stop the application of a drive forceon the conveyor belt, which thereby prevents or minimizes long-term andirreversible damage to the conveyor arrangement. The monitoringarrangement could also monitor other parameters, such as the movement ofthe conveyor belt or the presence of a foreign object in the conveyorbelt. A worker can be notified by the control system that a conveyorbelt jam has been detected. The worker must remove the obstructionbefore the control system will allow the conveyor arrangement to resumeoperation.

It should be understood that all of the systems and components disclosedherein relating to the design and/or operation of a pizza oven can beused individually or in any combination thereof in a single pizza ovensystem.

An example of a pizza oven that includes or can be adapted to include atleast one or more of the pizza oven components according to at least onepossible exemplification disclosed herein, is the Edge Oven,manufactured and/or sold by MF&B Restaurant Systems, Inc., of 133 ICMIRd, Dunbar, Pa., USA 15431. An example of an air guide and flow controlarrangement and components thereof that be used or adapted for use in atleast one possible exemplification disclosed herein, is the Return AirManagement (R.A.M.) system, manufactured and/or sold by MF&B RestaurantSystems, Inc., of 133 ICMI Rd, Dunbar, Pa., USA 15431. Some examples ofburners that can be used or adapted for use in at least one possibleexemplification disclosed herein are the P265 series of modulatingburners manufactured and/or sold by Wayne Combustion Systems, 801Glasgow Ave, Fort Wayne, Ind., USA 46803. An example of a flame sensoror flame detection device that can be used or adapted for use in atleast one possible exemplification disclosed herein is the KLC-20 orKLC-2002 compact flame controller manufactured and/or sold by BSTSolutions GmbH, Ruegenstrasse 7, 42579 Heiligenhaus, Germany. Accordingto at least one possible exemplification, an existing burnerarrangement, such as the P265 series burner, can be adapted orretrofitted with a flame detection arrangement, such as the KLC-20compact flame controller, by milling or cutting an opening in a sidewallof the burner housing. The flame detection arrangement can be mounted orheld on the sidewall of the burner housing in a manner described herein.The flame detection arrangement can be oriented so as to have a line ofsight through the opening in the sidewall to a flame coming from aburner unit housed in the burner housing.

An example of a control system program for a pizza oven control systemthat can be used or adapted for use in at least one possibleexemplification disclosed herein is the iHEAT control software v63developed by Wayne Combustion Systems, 801 Glasgow Ave, Fort Wayne,Ind., USA 46803, to comply with European Standard EN298:2012-11. Thisstandard requires that burner management control units make a “no-flame”check when the flame amplifier is permanently energized for 24 hours orcontinuous burner running time. iHEAT v63 incorporates the function of a24-hour timer and power cycles the flame detection arrangement to ensurethis requirement in meet. An example of a control system for controllingvarious functions and operating parameters of a conveyor pizza oven,which can be used or adapted for use in at least one possibleexemplification disclosed herein, is a control system available fromMF&B Restaurant Systems, Inc., of 133 ICMI Rd, Dunbar, Pa., USA 15431.The control system capabilities include: touch sensitive control,compatibility across modulating and standard/by-pass combustion systems,custom recipes, 30 recipe capacity, recipe names (up to eightcharacters), baking time(s), baking temperature, circulation blowerspeed with frequency drive models, recipe menu custom passwordprotection, oven to oven recipe transfer (via USB flash drive), advancedserviceability and prevention, belt damage protection, advanced alarmand fault detection, critical systems monitoring, induction blower motorspeed monitoring for standard and/or by-pass systems, over temperatureprevention, system voltage monitoring, conveyor demand monitoring, iHEATintegration, logging of historical diagnostic information, ETL (extract,transform, load) testing, and compliance with EN 60730-1:2016.

In at least one possible exemplification, the equipment employed toignite and control the combustion of the gaseous fuel source maypossibly comprise gas flow regulation valves, temperature monitoring andcontrol devices, and safety assurance devices.

The gas flow regulation valves are the primary gas control devices. Theindependent valves are the primary/pilot, the main/high flame, and theby-pass. These devices are housed within a single molded body assemblyand are independently controlled. The main valve, in conjunction withthe main orifice, is configured using mechanical adjustment to create aminimum flow rate and a maximum flow rate of gas, whereby fixing theminimum and maximum BTU/Hr rate of the combustion system.

The temperature monitoring and control device according to at least onepossible exemplification of the conveyor oven utilizes a single type-Jthermocouple, a control system, CV valve, and in modulating systems, theiHEAT control module. Temperature is measured using the thermocouple anda control system. This temperature is used by the control system toadjust the output voltage to the high flame valve in the by-passcombustion system. By-pass output may also be cycled, depending on themeasured temperature and the configuration of the control system.Modulating systems utilize a second device, the iHEAT control module.The iHEAT control module utilizes a 4-20 mA loop, generated by thecontrol system. This loop directly correlates to the perceivedtemperature difference between measured and target temperatures(set-point). The iHEAT control module is inter-connected to the controlsystem via an independent UART network, allowing diagnostic and statusinformation to be passed off for the purposes of: system health, systemstatus, and general diagnostics.

The safety assurance devices of the oven ensure specific condition arecorrect and within limits of operation prior to ignition and duringoperation. The most basic of these safety devices includes a centrifugalswitch in the main circulation motor. This is also the first safetycheck performed by the oven. This check ensures the circulation motor isturning and if all mechanical aspects are correct and air is movingwithin the oven. If the returning power from the centrifugal switch isnot present, the oven burner cannot be powered. Some ovens with variablefrequency drives are equipped with an air switch and not a centrifugalswitch, but the purpose and function are the same. A modulating systemperforms the following tests by means of the iHEAT control module: mainCV valve is present and responding, induction blower motor is rotatingat correct speed, signal is within the expected range from the controlsystem, and 24 VDC is present. If these conditions are not as expected,the burner will not be powered. In a by-pass system, the CV valve,induction blower, and 24V system are monitored by the control system. Ifthe CV valves are not detected and responding, if the induction bloweris not within rotation expectation, or if the 24V system is outside ofspecification, the combustion system will cease to operate. Both themodulating and by-pass systems utilize an ignition module. The ignitionmodule performs a verification of combustion by means of a flame signal.This flame signal must remain within the design limits in order for theprimary/pilot valve to remain open. The flame signal is generated byeither flame rectification, a process that involves free ion flowthrough the flame from the flame rod/electrode to the burner venture(chassis ground), or by optical detection, a process by which a detectoranalyzes the light emitted by the flame and subsequently produces anequivalent flame signal. Due to the levels of aldehyde and silica thatdevelop during normal combustion, optical detection is more sustainableover time. The optical detector can have a self-test feature that isactivated during start-up. Using such a device as a “proof of flame”imposes additional safety requirements which are addressed by the iHEATcontrol module. In at least one possible exemplification, in order toensure the oven remains safe during continuous operation and that thedetector can perform the self-test at a minimum 24-hour interval, theiHEAT control module will momentarily cycle the power to the ignitionmodule and the optical detector. This is a requirement of the EuropeanStandards EN298:2012-11. As the optical detector initializes, thisself-diagnostic test may be performed. During operation, the temperatureis monitored by the control system. In the event a failure may cause thetemperature to enter a “runaway” condition, the control system willdetect the fault and power down the burner system. Additionalcounter-measures are ensured in a modulating system. The iHEAT controlmodule will detect a “no call for heat” condition, meaning the measuredtemperature is above the requested temperature. This will result in aburner system power cycle if the condition exists for about 45 seconds.The resulting drop in temperature, due to the burner system power cycle,ensures the oven does not over temperature.

In at least one exemplification of the present disclosure, a pizza ovencomprises a top panel being configured to be disposed to form a top of abaking chamber; a bottom panel being configured to be disposed to form abottom of the baking chamber opposite said top panel; a first side panelbeing configured to be disposed to form a first side of the bakingchamber; a second side panel being configured to be disposed to form asecond side of the baking chamber; a plenum arrangement comprising a gasburner in a housing, a hot air blower motor, and a fan; said plenumarrangement being configured and disposed to supply heat into the bakingchamber; a conveyor belt configured to convey pizzas through said bakingchamber; a control assembly being configured to be in electricalcommunication with said plenum arrangement; a conveyor motor beingconfigured to drive said conveyor belt; a burner assembly comprising agas burner housed in a burner housing and being configured to heat airin said pizza oven; said gas burner comprising a longitudinal axis alongwhich air is configured to flow through said gas burner; an opening insaid burner housing; a sensor held on an exterior of said burnerhousing; wherein said sensor is held to directly sense a flame to beemitted from said gas burner; said sensor comprising a longitudinal axiswhich is disposed to have a non-zero acute angle with respect to saidlongitudinal axis along which air is configured to flow through said gasburner; said sensor has a line of unobstructed sight, through the air,to the flame to be emitted from said gas burner, through said opening insaid burner housing; said sensor being in electronic communication withsaid control assembly; said control assembly being configured to controlthe operation of said conveyor motor, said gas burner, said hot airblower motor, said fan, and gas flow to said gas burner.

In at least one other exemplification of the present disclosure, amethod of operating a pizza oven comprises the steps of: activating acontrol system and sending out control signals from said control systemto turn on a gas burner and emit a flame from the gas burner; directlysensing the flame being emitted from the gas burner, with a sensor;sending a signal from said sensor to said control system; heating airwith said gas burner; blowing heated air into said pizza oven with afan; and conveying uncooked pizzas through said pizza oven and bakingsaid pizzas.

In at least one further exemplification of the present disclosure, apizza oven comprises: a pizza baking chamber comprising an outer walldisposed to form a pizza baking chamber; a gas burner comprising alongitudinal axis which is configured to flow heated air along saidlongitudinal axis; said gas burner being in heat transfer communicationwith said pizza baking chamber; said gas burner comprising an opening ina sidewall thereof; a sensor held on an exterior of said sidewall ofsaid gas burner; and said sensor comprising a longitudinal axis which isdisposed to have a non-zero acute angle, with respect to saidlongitudinal axis of said gas burner, and has a line of sight to theflame to be emitted from said gas burner, through said opening in saidgas burner.

One feature or aspect of an exemplification is believed at the time ofthe filing of this patent application to possibly reside broadly in amodular pizza oven kit comprising: a plurality of pizza oven componentscomprising: a base panel; a plurality of casters being configured to bedetachably connected to said base panel to support said base panel on afloor surface; a top panel being configured to be disposed to form a topof a bake chamber; a bottom panel being configured to be disposed toform a bottom of a bake chamber opposite said top panel; a side panelbeing configured to be disposed to form a first side of a bake chamber;a plenum arrangement being configured to be disposed to form a secondside of a bake chamber opposite said first side; said plenum arrangementcomprising a housing and a hot air blower motor and fan being disposedin said housing; said top panel, said bottom panel, said first sidepanel, and said plenum arrangement being configured to be detachablyconnected together to form an open-ended bake chamber; said bake chamberbeing configured to be detachably connected to and supported on saidbase panel; a conveyor belt being configured to be detachably connectedinside said bake chamber with first and second end portions of saidconveyor belt projecting out of the open ends of said bake chamber; aplurality of finger assemblies being configured to be detachablyconnected inside the bake chamber and to direct heated air toward aproduct to be baked on said conveyor belt; two top end panels beingconfigured to be detachably connected to said side panel and said plenumarrangement to close the upper portion of the open ends of said bakechamber above said conveyor belt; two bottom end panels being configuredto be detachably connected to said side panel and said plenumarrangement to close the lower portion of the open ends of said bakechamber the low said conveyor belt; a control can assembly beingconfigured to be detachably connected to at least said plenumarrangement; a conveyor motor being configured to drive said conveyor; aburner assembly being configured to heat air; each of said conveyormotor and said burner assembly being disposed in said control canassembly; and said control can assembly being configured to control theoperation of said conveyor motor, said burner assembly, and said hot airblower motor and fan; a plurality of fastening devices comprising atleast one of bolts and screws being configured to detachably connectpizza oven components; and a plurality of alignment pins beingconfigured to temporarily connect and align pizza oven components topermit accurate connection of pizza oven components with said fasteningdevices.

Another feature or aspect of an exemplification is believed at the timeof the filing of this patent application to possibly reside broadly in apizza oven finger assembly being configured to be connected to a hole ina plenum of a pizza oven to receive and guide heated air from the plenumtoward a product to be baked in a pizza oven, said finger assemblycomprising: a housing comprising a first side portion, a second sideportion, and a third side portion, said first side portion beingdisposed to connect said second side portion and said third sideportion; each of said second and third side portions being disposedperpendicular to said first side portion; an outer cover panel beingmatingly and sealingly engaged with said housing; an inner panel beingdisposed between said housing and said outer cover panel; each of saidouter cover panel and said inner panel having holes disposed therein toguide heated air there through; a finger holder being configured to befastened to a side wall of a pizza oven opposite a plenum of a pizzaoven; said finger holder comprising: two arm sections; a support sectionbeing disposed perpendicular to and to connect said arm sections; and aflange section being disposed to project from said support section at anangle greater than 90°; and said flange section being configured toproduce, upon installation of said pizza oven finger assembly in a pizzaoven, a biasing or pressing force on at least one of said outer coverpanel and said housing to press and hold at least one of said outercover panel in said housing sealingly against a plenum wall of a pizzaoven to minimize leakage of heated air through a gap between the plenumwall and said pizza oven finger assembly.

Yet another feature or aspect of an exemplification is believed at thetime of the filing of this patent application to possibly reside broadlyin a two-speed pizza oven comprising: a base support; a top panel beingdisposed to form a top of a bake chamber; a bottom panel being disposedto form a bottom of a bake chamber opposite said top panel; a side panelbeing disposed to form a first side of a bake chamber; a plenumarrangement being disposed to form a second side of a bake chamberopposite said first side; said plenum arrangement comprising a housingand a hot air blower motor and fan being disposed in said housing; saidtop panel, said bottom panel, said first side panel, and said plenumarrangement being configured to be connected together to form anopen-ended bake chamber; said bake chamber being configured to beconnected to and supported on said base panel; a conveyor belt beingconfigured to be connected inside said bake chamber with first andsecond end portions of said conveyor belt projecting out of the openends of said bake chamber; a plurality of finger assemblies beingconnected inside the bake chamber and being configured to direct heatedair toward a product to be baked on said conveyor belt; two top endpanels being detachably connected to said side panel and said plenumarrangement to close the upper portion of the open ends of said bakechamber above said conveyor belt; two bottom end panels being detachablyconnected to said side panel and said plenum arrangement to close thelower portion of the open ends of said bake chamber the low saidconveyor belt; a control can assembly being connected to at least saidplenum arrangement; a conveyor motor being configured to drive saidconveyor; a burner assembly being configured to heat air; each of saidconveyor motor and said burner assembly being disposed in said controlcan assembly; said control can assembly being configured to control theoperation of said conveyor motor, said burner assembly, and said hot airblower motor and fan; said control can assembly comprising a controlarrangement being configured to: switch the speed of said conveyor motorbetween at least a first speed and a second speed lower than said firstspeed; switch the output of said burner assembly between at least afirst heating level and a second heating level lower than said firstheating level; and switch the speed of said blower motor between atleast a first speed and a second speed lower than said first speed.

A further feature or aspect of an exemplification is believed at thetime of the filing of this patent application to possibly reside broadlyin a method of operating a two-speed pizza oven, said method comprisingthe steps of: baking a first product at a first pizza oven energy level,said step of baking the first product comprising: moving a conveyor at afirst conveyor speed; heating air with a burner assembly at a firstheating level; and blowing heated air at a first air speed with a fanrotating at a first rotational speed; choosing to bake a second productat a second pizza oven energy level different from the first pizza ovenenergy level; pressing a toggle switch on a control system and sendingout control signals from said control system to bake a second product ata second pizza oven energy level different from the first pizza ovenenergy level; baking a second product at a second pizza oven energylevel different from the first pizza oven energy level, said step ofbaking the second product comprising: switching the operating speed ofthe conveyor motor to move the conveyor at a second conveyor speeddifferent from said first conveyor speed; switching the operating levelof the burner assembly to heat air at a second heating level differentfrom said first heating level; and switching the operating speed of afan motor to rotate the fan at a second rotational speed different fromsaid first rotational speed to blow heated air at a second air speeddifferent from said first air speed.

Another feature or aspect of an exemplification is believed at the timeof the filing of this patent application to possibly reside broadly in apizza oven comprising: a top panel being configured to be disposed toform a top of a baking chamber; a bottom panel being configured to bedisposed to form a bottom of the baking chamber opposite said top panel;a first side panel being configured to be disposed to form a first sideof the baking chamber; a second side panel being configured to bedisposed to form a second side of the baking chamber; a plenumarrangement comprising a gas burner in a housing, a hot air blowermotor, and a fan; said plenum arrangement being configured and disposedto supply heat into the baking chamber; a conveyor belt configured toconvey pizzas through said baking chamber; a control assembly beingconfigured to be in electrical communication with said plenumarrangement; a conveyor motor being configured to drive said conveyorbelt; a burner assembly comprising a gas burner housed in a burnerhousing and being configured to heat air in said pizza oven; said gasburner comprising a longitudinal axis along which air is configured toflow through said gas burner; an opening in said burner housing; asensor held on an exterior of said burner housing; wherein said sensoris held to directly sense a flame to be emitted from said gas burner;said sensor comprising a longitudinal axis which is disposed to have anon-zero acute angle with respect to said longitudinal axis along whichair is configured to flow through said gas burner; said sensor has aline of unobstructed sight, through the air, to the flame to be emittedfrom said gas burner, through said opening in said burner housing; saidsensor being in electronic communication with said control assembly;said control assembly being configured to control the operation of saidconveyor motor, said gas burner, said hot air blower motor, said fan,and gas flow to said gas burner.

Yet another feature or aspect of an exemplification is believed at thetime of the filing of this patent application to possibly reside broadlyin the pizza oven further comprising a mounting bracket extendingoutward from said burner housing, said mounting bracket comprising asensor mounting wall for mounting said sensor and have said longitudinalaxis of said sensor perpendicular with said sensor mounting wall of saidmounting bracket.

Still another feature or aspect of an exemplification is believed at thetime of the filing of this patent application to possibly reside broadlyin the pizza oven wherein said mounting bracket is vented.

A further feature or aspect of an exemplification is believed at thetime of the filing of this patent application to possibly reside broadlyin the pizza oven wherein said sensor mounting wall is configured formounting said sensor with said longitudinal axis of said sensor betweenabout 15° and 35° with respect to said longitudinal axis along which airis configured to flow through said gas burner.

Another feature or aspect of an exemplification is believed at the timeof the filing of this patent application to possibly reside broadly inthe pizza oven wherein said sensor mounting wall is configured formounting said sensor with said longitudinal axis of said sensor about25° with respect to said longitudinal axis along which air is configuredto flow through said gas burner.

Yet another feature or aspect of an exemplification is believed at thetime of the filing of this patent application to possibly reside broadlyin the pizza oven wherein said sensor is an optical sensor configured tooptically sense a flame, or no flame, being emitted from said gasburner.

One feature or aspect of an exemplification is believed at the time ofthe filing of this patent application to possibly reside broadly in thepizza oven wherein said control assembly is configured to control gasflow to said burner in response to the sensed flame or no flame beingemitted from said gas burner.

Another feature or aspect of an exemplification is believed at the timeof the filing of this patent application to possibly reside broadly inmethod of operating said pizza oven of claim 1, said method comprisingthe steps of: activating a control system and sending out controlsignals from said control system to turn on a gas burner and emit aflame from the gas burner; directly sensing the flame being emitted fromthe gas burner, with a sensor; sending a signal from said sensor to saidcontrol system; heating air with said gas burner; blowing heated airinto said pizza oven with a fan; and conveying uncooked pizzas throughsaid pizza oven and baking said pizzas.

Yet another feature or aspect of an exemplification is believed at thetime of the filing of this patent application to possibly reside broadlyin the method of operating said pizza oven, wherein said step ofdirectly sensing the flame being emitted from said gas burner comprisessensing a flame or no flame being emitted from said gas burnerthroughout the operation of said pizza oven.

Still another feature or aspect of an exemplification is believed at thetime of the filing of this patent application to possibly reside broadlyin the method of operating said pizza oven further comprising a step ofcontrolling gas flow to said gas burner, with said control system, inresponse to the sensed flame or no flame.

A further feature or aspect of an exemplification is believed at thetime of the filing of this patent application to possibly reside broadlyin a pizza oven comprising: a pizza baking chamber comprising an outerwall disposed to form a pizza baking chamber; a gas burner comprising alongitudinal axis which is configured to flow heated air along saidlongitudinal axis; said gas burner being in heat transfer communicationwith said pizza baking chamber; said gas burner comprising an opening ina sidewall thereof; a sensor held on an exterior of said sidewall ofsaid gas burner; and said sensor comprising a longitudinal axis which isdisposed to have a non-zero acute angle, with respect to saidlongitudinal axis of said gas burner, and has a line of sight to theflame to be emitted from said gas burner, through said opening in saidgas burner.

Another feature or aspect of an exemplification is believed at the timeof the filing of this patent application to possibly reside broadly inthe pizza oven further comprising a mounting bracket extending outwardfrom said gas burner, said mounting bracket comprising a sensor mountingwall for mounting said sensor and have said longitudinal axis of saidsensor perpendicular with said sensor mounting wall of said mountingbracket.

Yet another feature or aspect of an exemplification is believed at thetime of the filing of this patent application to possibly reside broadlyin the pizza oven wherein said mounting bracket is vented.

Still another feature or aspect of an exemplification is believed at thetime of the filing of this patent application to possibly reside broadlyin the pizza oven wherein said sensor mounting wall is configured formounting said sensor with said longitudinal axis of said sensor betweenabout 15° and 35° with respect to said longitudinal axis along which airis configured to flow through said gas burner.

A further feature or aspect of an exemplification is believed at thetime of the filing of this patent application to possibly reside broadlyin the pizza oven wherein said sensor mounting wall is configured formounting said sensor with said longitudinal axis of said sensor about25° with respect to said longitudinal axis along which air is configuredto flow through said gas burner.

Another feature or aspect of an exemplification is believed at the timeof the filing of this patent application to possibly reside broadly inthe pizza oven wherein said sensor is an optical sensor configured tooptically sense a flame, or no flame, being emitted from said gasburner.

Yet another feature or aspect of an exemplification is believed at thetime of the filing of this patent application to possibly reside broadlyin the pizza oven wherein said control assembly is configured to controlgas flow to said gas burner in response to the sensed flame or no flamebeing emitted from said gas burner.

The components disclosed in the various publications, disclosed orincorporated by reference herein, may possibly be used in possibleexemplifications of the present invention, as well as equivalentsthereof.

The purpose of the statements about the technical field is generally toenable the Patent and Trademark Office and the public to determinequickly, from a cursory inspection, the nature of this patentapplication. The description of the technical field is believed, at thetime of the filing of this patent application, to adequately describethe technical field of this patent application. However, the descriptionof the technical field may not be completely applicable to the claims asoriginally filed in this patent application, as amended duringprosecution of this patent application, and as ultimately allowed in anypatent issuing from this patent application. Therefore, any statementsmade relating to the technical field are not intended to limit theclaims in any manner and should not be interpreted as limiting theclaims in any manner.

The appended drawings in their entirety, including all dimensions,proportions and/or shapes in at least one exemplification of theinvention, are accurate and are hereby included by reference into thisspecification.

The background information is believed, at the time of the filing ofthis patent application, to adequately provide background informationfor this patent application. However, the background information may notbe completely applicable to the claims as originally filed in thispatent application, as amended during prosecution of this patentapplication, and as ultimately allowed in any patent issuing from thispatent application. Therefore, any statements made relating to thebackground information are not intended to limit the claims in anymanner and should not be interpreted as limiting the claims in anymanner.

All, or substantially all, of the components and methods of the variousexemplifications may be used with at least one exemplification or all ofthe exemplifications, if more than one exemplification is describedherein.

The purpose of the statements about the object or objects is generallyto enable the Patent and Trademark Office and the public to determinequickly, from a cursory inspection, the nature of this patentapplication. The description of the object or objects is believed, atthe time of the filing of this patent application, to adequatelydescribe the object or objects of this patent application. However, thedescription of the object or objects may not be completely applicable tothe claims as originally filed in this patent application, as amendedduring prosecution of this patent application, and as ultimately allowedin any patent issuing from this patent application. Therefore, anystatements made relating to the object or objects are not intended tolimit the claims in any manner and should not be interpreted as limitingthe claims in any manner.

All of the patents, patent applications and publications recited herein,and in the Declaration attached hereto, are hereby incorporated byreference as if set forth in their entirety herein.

The summary is believed, at the time of the filing of this patentapplication, to adequately summarize this patent application. However,portions or all of the information contained in the summary may not becompletely applicable to the claims as originally filed in this patentapplication, as amended during prosecution of this patent application,and as ultimately allowed in any patent issuing from this patentapplication. Therefore, any statements made relating to the summary arenot intended to limit the claims in any manner and should not beinterpreted as limiting the claims in any manner.

It will be understood that any or all the examples of patents, publishedpatent applications, and other documents which are included in thisapplication and including those which are referred to in paragraphswhich state “Some examples of . . . which may possibly be used in atleast one possible exemplification of the present application . . . ”may possibly not be used or useable in any one or more or anyexemplifications of the application.

The sentence immediately above relates to patents, published patentapplications and other documents either incorporated by reference or notincorporated by reference.

U.S. Pat. No. 8,093,533, entitled “MODULAR PIZZA OVEN KIT, PIZZA OVENFINGER ASSEMBLY SUPPORT, AND A METHOD OF OPERATING A PIZZA OVEN ATDIFFERENT SPEEDS AND A CONTROL ARRANGEMENT FOR PERFORMING THE METHOD”,issued Jan. 10, 2012, and all of the patents, patent applications orpatent publications, which were cited therein, and/or cited elsewhere,are hereby incorporated by reference as if set forth in their entiretyherein as follows: U.S. Pat. No. 6,933,773 to Henke, et al., and U.S.Pat. No. 6,998,582 to Maroti. U.S. provisional patent application62/659,852, filed Apr. 19, 2018, is also incorporated by reference as ifset forth in its entirety herein. Some examples of oven technology thatmay possibly be utilized or adapted for use in at least one possibleexemplification may possibly be found in U.S. Pat. No. 8,776,773,entitled “Air Impingement Tunnel Oven,” which is incorporated byreference as if set forth in its entirety herein.

The purpose of incorporating U.S. patents, Foreign patents,publications, etc. is solely to provide additional information relatingto technical features of one or more exemplifications, which informationmay not be completely disclosed in the wording in the pages of thisapplication. Words relating to the opinions and judgments of the authorand not directly relating to the technical details of the description ofthe exemplifications therein are not incorporated by reference. Thewords all, always, absolutely, consistently, preferably, guarantee,particularly, constantly, ensure, necessarily, immediately, endlessly,avoid, exactly, continually, expediently, need, must, only, perpetual,precise, perfect, require, requisite, simultaneous, total, unavoidable,and unnecessary, or words substantially equivalent to theabove-mentioned words in this sentence, when not used to describetechnical features of one or more exemplifications, are not consideredto be incorporated by reference herein.

All of the references and documents, cited in any of the documents citedherein, are hereby incorporated by reference as if set forth in theirentirety herein. All of the documents cited herein, referred to in theimmediately preceding sentence, include all of the patents, patentapplications and publications cited anywhere in the present application.

The description of the exemplification or exemplifications is believed,at the time of the filing of this patent application, to adequatelydescribe the exemplification or exemplifications of this patentapplication. However, portions of the description of the exemplificationor exemplifications may not be completely applicable to the claims asoriginally filed in this patent application, as amended duringprosecution of this patent application, and as ultimately allowed in anypatent issuing from this patent application. Therefore, any statementsmade relating to the exemplification or exemplifications are notintended to limit the claims in any manner and should not be interpretedas limiting the claims in any manner.

The details in the patents, patent applications and publications may beconsidered to be incorporable, at applicant's option, into the claimsduring prosecution as further limitations in the claims to patentablydistinguish any amended claims from any applied prior art.

The purpose of the title of this patent application is generally toenable the Patent and Trademark Office and the public to determinequickly, from a cursory inspection, the nature of this patentapplication. The title is believed, at the time of the filing of thispatent application, to adequately reflect the general nature of thispatent application. However, the title may not be completely applicableto the technical field, the object or objects, the summary, thedescription of the exemplification or exemplifications, and the claimsas originally filed in this patent application, as amended duringprosecution of this patent application, and as ultimately allowed in anypatent issuing from this patent application. Therefore, the title is notintended to limit the claims in any manner and should not be interpretedas limiting the claims in any manner.

The abstract of the disclosure is submitted herewith as required by 37C.F.R. § 1.72(b). As stated in 37 C.F.R. § 1.72(b): A brief abstract ofthe technical disclosure in the specification must commence on aseparate sheet, preferably following the claims, under the heading“Abstract of the Disclosure.” The purpose of the abstract is to enablethe Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally to determinequickly from a cursory inspection the nature and gist of the technicaldisclosure. The abstract shall not be used for interpreting the scope ofthe claims.

Therefore, any statements made relating to the abstract are not intendedto limit the claims in any manner and should not be interpreted aslimiting the claims in any manner.

The exemplifications of the invention described herein above in thecontext of the preferred exemplifications are not to be taken aslimiting the exemplifications of the invention to all of the provideddetails thereof, since modifications and variations thereof may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the exemplifications ofthe invention.

While various aspects and exemplifications have been disclosed herein,other aspects and exemplifications are contemplated. The various aspectsand exemplifications disclosed herein are for purposes of illustrationand not intended to be limiting. Additionally, the words “including,”“having,” and variants thereof (e.g., “includes” and “has”) as usedherein, including the claims, shall be open-ended and have the samemeaning as the word “comprising” and variants thereof (e.g., “comprise”and “comprises”).

The exemplifications of the invention described herein above in thecontext of the preferred exemplifications are not to be taken aslimiting the exemplifications of the invention to all of the provideddetails thereof, since modifications and variations thereof may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the exemplifications ofthe invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A pizza oven comprising: a pizza baking chambercomprising: a top panel; a bottom panel being disposed opposite said toppanel; a first side panel being disposed transverse or perpendicular tosaid top panel and said bottom panel; a second side panel being disposedopposite said first side panel, and being disposed transverse orperpendicular to said top panel and said bottom panel; and entry andexit openings being configured to permit insertion of uncooked pizzainto said baking chamber, and removal of cooked pizza out of said bakingchamber; a conveyor belt being configured and disposed to convey pizzasand food products through said baking chamber; a pizza oven heatercomprising a burner, a blower motor, and a fan; said pizza oven heaterbeing configured to heat and assist in circulating air to produce adesired air temperature in said baking chamber sufficient to cook orbake food products in said baking chamber; a plenum disposed behind saidfirst side panel; said first side panel comprising a plurality of inputopenings disposed to connect the interior of said plenum to the interiorof said baking chamber to permit flow of heated air into said bakingchamber; said first side panel comprising a plurality of return openingsdisposed to connect the interior of said baking chamber to the interiorof said plenum to permit flow of return air into said plenum; aplurality of finger assemblies being disposed in said baking chamber;each of said finger assemblies comprising a housing that defines an airchamber with an open end; said open end of each of said fingerassemblies being connected to a corresponding one of said input openingsto permit flow of heated air from said plenum into said fingerassemblies via said input openings; each housing of said fingerassemblies comprising a planar surface disposed facing toward a top orbottom surface of said conveyor belt; said planar surface of each ofsaid finger assemblies comprising a plurality of output openings thereinbeing configured to emit heated air in a direction toward said conveyorbelt to disperse heated air throughout said baking chamber; said burnercomprising a burner housing having a cylindrical or tubular shape with acentral longitudinal axis; said burner comprising a gas tube disposedwithin said burner housing; said gas tube comprising an input end and anoutput end; said gas tube being configured to receive combustible gas insaid input end; said gas tube being configured to guide combustible gastherethrough to said output end; said burner comprising an ignitiondevice disposed at said output end of said burner; said ignition devicebeing configured to ignite combustible gas flowing out of said gas tubeto create a flame at said output end of said burner; said burnercomprising a flame detection device; said burner comprising a mountingbracket mounted on an outside surface of said burner housing; said flamedetection device being removably mounted in said mounting bracket; saidmounting bracket comprising an angled wall disposed at an angle withrespect to the central longitudinal axis of said burner housing; saidangled wall being configured and disposed to orient said flame detectiondevice with respect to a flame at said output end of said burner; saidflame detection device being elongated and having a device axis alongthe length thereof; said flame detection device being mounted in saidmounting bracket such that said device axis of said flame detectiondevice is essentially perpendicular to said angled wall of said mountingbracket and at an acute angle to the central longitudinal axis of saidburner housing; said burner housing comprising an opening therein in theform of an elongated slot; said opening being configured and disposed topermit said flame detection device to be disposed at said angle to thecentral longitudinal axis of said burner housing and to detect a flameat said output end of said burner; said flame detection device isdisposed in said mounting bracket such that all of said flame detectiondevice is disposed outside of said burner housing; said flame detectiondevice comprises a first end portion and a second end portion, whereinsaid first end portion is disposed further away from said burner housingthan said second end portion; said second end portion comprises a flamedetector component disposed to face toward a flame at said output end ofsaid burner; said second end portion is disposed at said elongated slotsuch that all of said flame detector component is disposed outside ofsaid burner housing; and said angled wall of said mounting bracketcomprising an opening therein configured to permit partial insertion ofsaid flame detection device inside said mounting bracket, such that saidsecond end portion is disposed inside of said mounting bracket and saidfirst end portion is disposed outside of said mounting bracket.
 2. Thepizza oven according to claim 1, wherein: said mounting bracket isbox-shaped with an open end; said mounting bracket is configured anddisposed to cover said elongated slot in said burner housing; and saidelongated slot and said mounting bracket are disposed at a middleportion of said burner housing along the length of said burner housing.3. The pizza oven according to claim 2, wherein said angle at which saiddevice axis is disposed with respect to the central longitudinal axis ofsaid burner housing is one of (A) and (B): (A) in the range of fifteendegrees to thirty-five degrees; and (B) in the range of twenty-fivedegrees to thirty degrees.
 4. A pizza oven comprising: a pizza bakingchamber configured to contain heated air to cook pizzas therein; aconveyor belt being configured and disposed to convey pizzas and foodproducts through said baking chamber; a pizza oven heater comprising aburner, a blower motor, and a fan; said pizza oven heater beingconfigured to heat air and assist in circulating air to produce adesired air temperature in said baking chamber sufficient to cook orbake food products in said baking chamber; a plenum disposed outside ofsaid pizza baking chamber; a plurality of input openings and returnopenings disposed in a wall of said pizza baking chamber to connect theinterior of said pizza baking chamber to the interior of said plenum topermit circulating flow of air between said plenum and said pizza bakingchamber; said burner comprising a burner housing having a cylindrical ortubular shape with a central longitudinal axis; said burner comprising agas tube disposed within said burner housing; said gas tube comprisingan input end and an output end; said gas tube being configured toreceive combustible gas in said input end; said gas tube beingconfigured to guide combustible gas therethrough to said output end;said burner comprising an ignition device disposed at said output end ofsaid burner; said ignition device being configured to ignite combustiblegas flowing out of said gas tube to create a flame at said output end ofsaid burner; said burner comprising a flame detection device; saidburner comprising a mounting bracket mounted on an outside surface ofsaid burner housing; said flame detection device being removably mountedin said mounting bracket; said mounting bracket comprising an angledwall disposed at an angle with respect to the central longitudinal axisof said burner housing; said angled wall being configured and disposedto orient said flame detection device with respect to a flame at saidoutput end of said burner; said flame detection device being elongatedand having a device axis along the length thereof; said flame detectiondevice being mounted in said mounting bracket such that said device axisof said flame detection device is essentially perpendicular to saidangled wall of said mounting bracket and at an acute angle to thecentral longitudinal axis of said burner housing; said burner housingcomprising an opening therein in the form of an elongated slot; saidopening being configured and disposed to permit said flame detectiondevice to be disposed at said angle to the central longitudinal axis ofsaid burner housing and to detect a flame at said output end of saidburner; said flame detection device being disposed in said mountingbracket such that all of said flame detection device is disposed outsideof said burner housing; said flame detection device comprising a firstend portion and a second end portion, wherein said first end portion isdisposed further away from said burner housing than said second endportion; said second end portion comprising a flame detector componentdisposed to face a flame at said output end of said burner; said secondend portion being disposed at said elongated slot such that all of saidflame detector component is disposed outside of said burner housing; andsaid angled wall of said mounting bracket comprising an opening thereinconfigured to permit partial insertion of said flame detection deviceinside said mounting bracket, such that said second end portion isdisposed inside of said mounting bracket and said first end portion isdisposed outside of said mounting bracket.
 5. The pizza oven accordingto claim 4, wherein: said mounting bracket is box-shaped with an openend; said mounting bracket is configured and disposed to cover saidelongated slot in said burner housing; and said elongated slot and saidmounting bracket are disposed at a middle portion of said burner housingalong the length of said burner housing.
 6. The pizza oven according toclaim 5, wherein said angle at which said device axis is disposed withrespect to the central longitudinal axis of said burner housing is oneof (A) and (B): (A) in the range of fifteen degrees to thirty-fivedegrees; and (B) in the range of twenty-five degrees to thirty degrees.7. A pizza oven heater comprising: a burner configured to heat air tocook pizzas moved on a pizza conveyor; a blower motor and a fanconfigured to assist in circulating air through a pizza baking chamber;said burner comprising an elongated burner housing with a centrallongitudinal axis; said burner comprising a gas tube disposed withinsaid burner housing; said gas tube comprising an input end and an outputend; said gas tube being configured to receive combustible gas in saidinput end; said gas tube being configured to guide combustible gastherethrough to said output end; said burner comprising an ignitiondevice disposed at said output end of said burner; said ignition devicebeing configured to ignite combustible gas flowing out of said gas tubeto create a flame at said output end of said burner; said burnercomprising a flame detection device; said flame detection device havinga device axis along the length thereof; said burner comprising amounting structure; said flame detection device being supported by saidmounting structure to dispose said device axis at an acute angle to thecentral longitudinal axis of said burner housing; said burner housingcomprising an opening therein; said opening being configured anddisposed to permit said flame detection device to be disposed at saidangle to the central longitudinal axis of said burner housing and todetect a flame at said output end of said burner; said mountingstructure comprising a mounting bracket mounted on an outside surface ofsaid burner housing; said mounting bracket comprising an angled walldisposed at an angle with respect to the central longitudinal axis ofsaid burner housing; said flame detection device being mounted in saidmounting bracket such that said device axis of said flame detectiondevice is essentially perpendicular to said angled wall of said mountingbracket; and said angled wall comprising an opening therein configuredto permit partial insertion of said flame detection device inside saidmounting bracket, such that said second end portion is disposed insideof said mounting bracket and said first end portion is disposed outsideof said mounting bracket.
 8. The pizza oven heater according to claim 7,wherein: said mounting bracket is box-shaped with an open end; saidmounting bracket is configured and disposed to cover said elongated slotin said burner housing; and said elongated slot and said mountingbracket are disposed at a middle portion of said burner housing alongthe length of said burner housing.